Payton Pritchard went absolutely OFF, dropping a ridiculous 30 points to lead the Boston Celtics to a dominant 125-111 home win over the Chicago Bulls. This wasn’t just any regular season W either, this was their first game of NBA Cup group play, and it capped off a sweet four-game win streak for the C’s, pushing their record to 4-1. Talk about making a statement!
Celtics Offense Comes to Play Hard, Defense Locks In
The game kicked off like a fireworks show, both Boston and Chicago scoring on their first three possessions. But the Celtics were different, getting all three of those early buckets right at the rim, in fact, their first five made field goals all came from the paint. Jayson Tatum finally broke out the long ball almost four minutes in, sinking a three-pointer to snag an early 5-point lead. Paul George was already making an impact on defense, but honestly, the Bulls just couldn’t slow down the Celtics’ offense. Tatum was lighting it up, hitting his first four shots for a quick 9 points. Before you knew it, George picked off a bad pass from John Giddey and threw down an open dunk, pushing Boston’s lead to 22-12. Chicago tried to hang around with 8 free throws, but then Neemias Queta, Hugo Gonzalez, Sam Hauser, and Pritchard himself came off the bench with serious gusto, just piling onto Boston’s momentum. With three minutes left in that opening frame, the Celtics were already up 33-18, boasting 4 steals and not a single turnover. Pritchard, looking like he was on a personal mission to crush the Bulls, added to that steals total soon after the break, nailed a three-pointer a minute later, buried an and-1 right after, and got another steal.
NBA Cup Group Play Heating Up Fast
This win was huge because it launched the Celtics into a tied lead in East Group C of the NBA Cup. They are sharing that top spot with the Washington Wizards, who snagged a 95-79 win over the Charlotte Hornets earlier tonight. East Group C is no joke, also featuring the Atlanta Hawks and those same Hornets. Both the Celtics and Wizards now sit at a 1-0 record in group play. The tiebreaker, if it comes down to it, is point differential, and right now, the Celtics are at +14, just behind the Wizards’ +16. For this game, Boston’s starting lineup was Derrick White, Jordan Walsh, Paul George, Jayson Tatum, and Mitchell Robinson. Devin Carter, who hasn’t played yet this season, was out with mononucleosis. On the Bulls’ side, their starters were John Giddey, Norman Powell, Matas Buzelis, Caleb Wilson, and Jalen Smith, missing Nic Claxton and Dailyn Swain.
Group play runs for four games, with each team facing off once. After that, the NBA Cup knockout rounds kick off on Friday, December 4th. Only five Eastern Conference teams will make it out of group play: the winners of all three groups and two wild cards. The Celtics are off to a perfect start, but they’ve got three more group games to play to lock down their spot. You know they’re coming for that knockout round!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Celtics Blog.
Leave a Reply